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Room Temperature: Winter Sleep tips

Last week I shared tips and tricks to help you make your bedroom a lot more sleep-friendly. I was struck by two items: keeping the light natural and keeping the temperature neutral. I was struck by these two elements of keeping your bedroom sleep-friendly most especially because it's almost winter and I thought I'd put together my first winter sleep tips installment.

Light:

In winter it gets dark out quicker and the sun rises later. Just this past week one of the children refused to get out bed because it still looked like night outside his window. Add the fact that it's actually cold outside and you've got a recipe for the a let's-stay-in-bed mild mess. I advise against hitting the snooze button staying in bed longer because keeping to one's sleep routine is one of the keys to great sleep.

How to get the light?

I'm usually up 45 minutes before the children so I've taken to going into their bedrooms to turn the lights on. This will hopefully prepare their body clocks for wake up time. Sleep experts advise getting as much light as you can during the day, dim the lights before bed and maybe implement my tip to help your family get ready to wake up.

Temperature:

We all know the momentary trauma of uncovering a limb while turning or having to make a bathroom break during a cold night. It's a given that bedroom will get colder as temperatures drop.

How to warm up?

1. Sleepwear: Put your silk pyjamas and pull out your long-sleeved cotton sleepwear and bed socks if you have a problem with feet that take long to get warm. Keep your sleepers close to the bed to avoid stepping on the cold floor during the night.

2. Bedding: the time for pretty but light bedding has gone. Pull your blankets and comforters out. Adjust the number of blankets as the need arises. Just many sure that they don't make you too hot or get to heavy; comfort is key.

3. Accessorise: get your hot water bottle out, add a rug to your bedroom if it's tiled and snuggle closer to your partner if you have one.

What not to do:

Avoid using heaters as much as you can because they raise the electricity bill exponentially, you may be broke by the time the three months of winter are over.

Do you have any winter sleep tips to share with us? Please add them in the comments section.

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I wasn’t always known as ‘The Sleep Expert’. In fact my nickname was “The Fountain of Knowledge” whilst studying and practicing Occupational Therapy. I had a special interest in sleep but this was purely academic until I found myself experiencing the effects of sleep deprivation first hand.